Michael K. Pittman Sr. (born August 14, 1975) is an American former professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player who was a

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Fresno State Bulldogs The Fresno State Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent California State University, Fresno (commonly referred to as Fresno State). The university is a member of NCAA Division I's Mountain West Conference (MW). It was a ...

. He was selected by the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The ...

in the fourth round of the

1998 NFL draft The 1998 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 18–19, 1998, at the Theater at M ...

. He is the father of Colts receiver

Michael Pittman Jr. Michael Pittman Jr. (born October 5, 1997) is an American professional American football, football wide receiver for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the USC Trojans football, USC Troja ...

Pittman also played in the NFL for the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

and

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West, West division. The team is headquartered in E ...

, and the

Florida Tuskers Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

of the United Football League (UFL). He won a

Super Bowl ring The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the team members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl ring offers a collectible memento for the actual players and t ...

with the Buccaneers in

Super Bowl XXXVII Super Bowl XXXVII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champio ...

Early life

Pittman attended Mira Mesa Senior High School

San Diego, California San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, and graduated in 1993. He was a first-team All-Eastern League honoree. He played with older brother Wayne.

College career

Pittman is an alumnus of

Fresno State California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California, United States. It is part of the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers 60 ba ...

. He rushed for 3,017 yards during his career at Fresno State. He was named second-team All-

Western Athletic Conference The Western Athletic Conference (WAC) is an NCAA Division I conference. The WAC covers a broad expanse of the Western United States with member institutions located in Arizona, California, Texas, Utah and Washington (state), Washington. Due to ...

(WAC) Pacific Division in 1996, and first-team All-WAC Pacific Division in 1997. Pittman is a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

fraternity. He was teammates with QB Billy Volek. *1995: 127 carries for 561 yards with 7 TD. 15 catches for 111 yards. *1996: 214 carries for 1,132 yards with 13 TD. 15 catches for 109 yards. *1997: 238 carries for 1,057 yards with 8 TD. 32 catches for 255 yards with 2 TD.

Professional career

Arizona Cardinals

Pittman received two years of probation for pleading no contest to misdemeanor battery in January 1998, and the ''

Tucson Citizen The ''Tucson Citizen'' was a daily newspaper in Tucson, Arizona. It was founded by Richard C. McCormick with John Wasson as publisher and editor on October 15, 1870, as the ''Arizona Citizen''. When it ceased printing on May 16, 2009, the dail ...

'' reported that his draft stock fell due to the domestic violence incident. He was selected in the fourth round of the

(95th overall) by the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Pittman's career high for rushing yards in a season was 926 in 2004 and his career high for receiving yards was 597, with 75 catches, in 2003. The highest combination in one year was 2003 when he had a total of 1,348 yards (751 rushing and 597 receiving). On January 26, 2003, Pittman played in

and rushed for 124 yards on 29 carries in Tampa Bay's 48–21 victory over the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

. Pittman was suspended for the first three games of the

2004 NFL season The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League (NFL). With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004, to January 2, 2005. Hurricanes forced ...

for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. He was sentenced to 14 days in prison for intentionally driving his car into a car containing his wife and child. On November 7, 2004, Pittman scored on a 78-yard

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchd ...

run against the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) West division. Established in 1959 ...

, formerly the longest run in Tampa Bay Buccaneers history. On March 22, 2005, Pittman launched his official website, Pittman32.com, which has since gone offline. On September 11, 2005, the website was praised by Greg Auman of the

St. Petersburg Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute f ...

as "the team's best player site". On January 7, 2006, during a Wild Card playoff game between the Buccaneers and

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East ...

, Pittman was involved in an altercation with Redskins'

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

Sean Taylor Sean Michael Maurice Taylor (April 1, 1983 – November 27, 2007) was an American professional football safety for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL). He was selected fifth overall in the 2004 NFL draft by the Red ...

, who allegedly spat on him following a play. Pittman responded with a blow to Taylor's helmet. Taylor was ejected from the game that the Redskins won 17–10. Pittman became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

following the 2007 season.

Denver Broncos

On May 27, 2008, Pittman was signed by the

and had wanted to change positions to fullback but stayed at running back. Cornerback Dré Bly was already wearing No. 32, so Pittman was assigned No. 28 as his jersey number. His official website was renamed Pittman28.com to reflect the change. The website has since gone offline, with Pittman no longer playing in the NFL. Pittman was placed on season-ending

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in ...

with a neck injury. In eight games (three starts) during the 2008 season, Pittman rushed 76 times for 320 yards and four touchdowns.

Florida Tuskers

On August 12, 2009, Pittman signed with the

NFL career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

Personal life

Pittman's eldest son, Michael Jr., plays wide receiver for the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. Since the 2008 India ...

. His younger son, Mycah, plays wide receiver for

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

References

External links

Stats Crew profileDenver Broncos bioTampa Bay Buccaneers bioUnited Football League bioUFL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pittman, Michael Sr. 1975 births Living people Players of American football from New Orleans Players of American football from San Diego American football running backs Fresno State Bulldogs football players Arizona Cardinals players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players Denver Broncos players Florida Tuskers players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen